MONTREAL, CANADA - APRIL 06: Head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs Sheldon Keefe, walks across the ice as his team celebrates a victory against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre on April 6, 2024 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-2. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
After yet another first round disappointment in the NHL playoffs, the Toronto Maple Leafs went through with their expected firing of head coach Sheldon Keefe, announcing the decision Thursday.
The Maple Leafs lost to the Boston Bruins in the first round for the first time in Keefe's tenure, but for the fourth time in the past 11 years, and Keefe's playoff track record outside of this year left much to be desired.
The decision is a big one, as Keefe had previously signed a two-year extension that hadn't even kicked in yet, and was slated to begin next year.
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NHL Coaching Change: Toronto Maple Leafs Fire Sheldon Keefe
Keefe was hired by the Maple Leafs in the midst of the 2019-2020 season, earning a promotion from head coach of their AHL affiliate the Toronto Marlies after Mike Babcock was dismissed following a disappointing start.
The team floundered that year to its worst regular season of the Auston Matthews era, and got bounced by the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets in the qualifying round of the bubble playoffs after the covid pause.
From there, the team blew a 3-1 series lead to a lesser-talented Montreal Canadiens team in 2021, lost in the first round to Tampa Bay in 2022, and finally won a series in 2023 by beating Tampa Bay before promptly getting hammered by Florida in the second round.
After finally emerging from the shadow of the pandemic and having multiple years under normal conditions to try to go on a run, Keefe failed to get the job done this year, and it cost him his job.
The overarching problem for the Maple Leafs has been the quiet degradation of the roster since the 2017-2019 era, as bloated contracts for Matthews, Mitch Marner, and John Tavares have resulted in significant cap casualties in the depth.
The expectations have remained sky high, but the team has one legitimately good defenseman and no real solution in goal, though Joseph Woll is just now emerging as one. Without a real number one goalie and with a subpar defense, this team was never going anywhere. The fact that they still couldn't beat an also-depleted Boston team beckons back to a past that is already well in the rear view.
It's Toronto, the fact that the pressure is as serious as can be, and the highly paid and talented superstars have artificially inflated the goals. There was a time where the Leafs could have gone on a deep run if they could get over the Boston hump, but with Florida, New York, and Carolina having much more complete rosters, it wasn't this year.
Keefe deserved to go, but that problem will persist without him.
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